A peace plan for Gaza created by U.S. President Donald Trump and approved by the UN Security Council has not changed anything on the ground, according to Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.

On Monday, the Security Council endorsed the “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict,” which establishes a Board of Peace and authorized the Board and Member States working with it to establish a temporary International Stabilization Force in Gaza.

The representative of the United States to the UN said the plan  was “no mere paper promise, but a lifeline” for the Gaza Strip.

Pizzaballa said like all plans, it can never be perfect, “but it is what we have.”

“It is the only plan that has so far halted the expansion of the war and can offer at least a glimmer of hope for the Palestinian population—and not just for them,” the cardinal told Vatican News.

“So, we might say the UN vote is a sort of general endorsement by the international community that, while it changes nothing materially, is still important from an ideal and political standpoint,” he said.

“As for daily life in the region and the plan’s concrete implementation, from the outset we knew that the various points of the Trump plan would be—and will remain very difficult—to carry out,” he added.

The Gaza War broke out following an Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack by Hamas militants that left 1,200 Israelis dead and more than 250 taken as hostages.

Israel immediately launched a retaliatory offensive in Gaza to oust Hamas from leadership, with the subsequent conflict resulting in the deaths of nearly 70,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian estimates.

Last month, Trump arranged a peace deal, by which the exchange of hostages took place.

“We know Hamas has no intention of handing over its weapons,” Pizzaballa told Vatican News.

“I think Israel also has little desire to withdraw entirely from the Strip. Both parties were required to accept this plan, but they face very real obstacles. Persistence is needed,” he said.

“The United States, together with Arab countries and Turkey, are the only ones capable of driving progress, because goodwill alone is not enough at this moment. Political courage is also needed to create solutions that can gradually lead to clearer prospects. But it will take a long time, and it will be exhausting,” the cardinal added.

He told the Vatican agency that ordinary life in Gaza has changed very little since the U.S.-sponsored ceasefire.

“The only difference — thanks be to God and to those who secured it — is the end of the blanket bombing. Aid is entering more regularly than before, and more reliably, but still far from sufficient given the needs for medicine, hospitals, tents, blankets — especially with winter arriving. Water is needed — of course — but in Gaza ‘water’ often means mud in an already dire situation,” Pizzaballa said.

“There are no schools; hospitals are only partially operational; everything needs to be rebuilt. We are still in phase one: clearing rubble, uncovering and burying the dead still beneath it, and preparing even a minimal reconstruction plan — which also requires a governance that does not yet exist and whose form is unknown,” he continued.

Pizzaballa said the situation in all of Palestine – including the West Bank – is worsening every day.

“I have photos from yet another attack on our Christian village of Taybeh: homes and cars vandalized, windows smashed, tires slashed. What happened last night in Taybeh — serious as it is — happens daily in many Palestinian villages. A few days ago, I received a request for help from the village of Aboud — quite isolated — not only from the parish but from the entire community, including the mayor, because they simply do not know whom to turn to,” the cardinal told Vatican News.

He said most of the time, one witnesses “a total lack of respect for the law—any law—and for human rights.”

“Our fear is that the situation will continue and worsen,” he said.

“Everything remains to be done. And while the UN and others discuss the future, people continue to live in the same tragic conditions as before,” Pizzaballa said.